Richard Madeley: ‘Never Tried Drugs Due to Fear of Addiction After Smoking 60 Cigarettes Daily’

Richard Madeley has revealed he never tried drugs because he was ‘terrified’ he would end up an addict.

The TV presenter, 69, was previously a heavy smoker – at one point smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day – and thought progressing to anything ‘harder’ wouldn’t end well. 

Richard appeared on Matt Willis’ On The Mend pocast where he described himself as having an ‘addictive personality’.

Busted star Matt, who has been sober for eight years, has been open about his own struggles with addiction and asked Richard if he had ever used drugs.  

‘I never have, I’ve never even smoked a joint. I was a very heavy smoker until I was 40,’ Richard said.

‘At one point I was on 60 a day which is ridiculous because I have a very addictive personality, cigarettes proved that to me and so I’ve always been terrified of heavier stuff.

‘I drink a bit, I certainly drink wine but I’m OK with it. In terms of cocaine and pot, as we used to call it, I’ve always steered clear of it because it terrifies me. I’ve got a horrible feeling I’d fall into the same trap as you did.’

Richard was finally motivated to quit cigarettes for good after he interviewed journalist John Diamond not long before he died of throat cancer brought on by smoking.   

‘What stopped me was interviewing Nigella Lawson’s first husband John Diamond. He got throat and mouth cancer because of smoking in his late 30s and he was dying,’ Richard said.

‘He came on This Morning and he had half his tongue cut away and had half his oesphagus taken away, he was very hard to understand because of the surgery on his tongue. 

‘About halfway through this live interview, I said, “John, you’re in this predicament because of smoking.” And he said, “Of course I f***ing am.”

‘We didn’t get any complaints because you couldn’t really hear the F-word. I went to my dressing room, pulled my packet of Benson & Hedges down and flushed them down the toilet. I knew that was it.’

Elsewhere during the interview, Richard told how one of his biggest regrets is his last conversation with his father Christopher before his death. 

‘My last conversation with him was very rushed. Dad wanted to talk about stuff and I was just preoccupied and put him off,’ he said.

‘That was on the Friday and on the Monday he died. I’ve always regretted not having that last conversation with him. That kind of regret never leaves you. 

‘He was only 49 when he died. He had a coronary out of nowhere and I was only 21, that was a heavy blow.’

Richard recalled getting together with his wife Judy Finnigan and how they took it slow during the early days of their romance as they were both leaving ‘crumbling’ marriages. 

‘I joined Grenada in 1982 and met Judy Finnegan and we just hit it off. My marriage was crumbling and her marriage was crumbling and after 18 months we realised we were more than good colleagues and good friends, we were fallling for each other. 

‘So we ended up getting married and having kids and I ended up being stepfather to Judy’s kids from her first marriage so there was six of us in this family unit.’ 

He added: ‘We do have a happy marriage and a committed marriage. I can’t think of anything where, I’ve left the house and thought, is this going to last? 

Richard ‘blames himself’ for the end of his first marriage to wife Linda because at 21, he feels he was far too immature.  

‘IObviously we were both married before so we know what it is before. I blame myself for the failure of my first marriage because I was way too young. 21. 

‘It was ridiculous. It was very unfair on my first wife Linda because I simply wasn’t ready for it.’